Guideline serves as a culture shield

Hongcun village in Yixian county, Anhui province, is renowned for its well-preserved traditional buildings. [Photo provided to China Daily]

To help embed cultural heritage in the minds of the people, the document urged authorities to make sites more accessible to the public and adapt suitable sites into museums or exhibition halls.

It also mandated efforts to carry out renovations of historical buildings by adding facilities that enable tenants to enjoy modern amenities, and introducing measures to strengthen weaknesses in infrastructure development.

Vice-minister Huang said that another highlight of the new policy is that it placed greater emphasis on accountability, including standardization of monitoring, inspection and evaluation mechanisms as well as systems that encourage whistleblowers to report wrongdoing.

She said that cultural heritage protection will be a key criterion in the assessment of the performance of officials, and those found responsible for severe damage will be punished in accordance with the law and disciplinary regulations.

Lyu Zhou, a professor of cultural heritage protection at Tsinghua University, said the nation still has a long way to go in this regard, and the work requires the consensus and joint efforts of society.

"The core of the work is to tell the story of China through cultural heritage, to build up people's confidence in Chinese culture and bind the nation together," he said.